Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children Character Analysis

Jacob Portman

Jacob is the protagonist of the novel. Growing up in Sarasota, Florida, Jacob idolizes his grandfather, Abe, whom he believes had a very interesting life. He loves hearing his grandfather’s stories about the children’s… read analysis of Jacob Portman

Abe Portman/Jacob’s Grandfather

Abe is Jacob’s paternal grandfather. Abe is the only person in his family to have escaped the Nazis in Poland in the late 1930s; Miss Peregrine then found him in a refugee camp and… read analysis of Abe Portman/Jacob’s Grandfather

Emma Bloom/The Girl

Emma is a peculiar who lives at Miss Peregrine’s home; she can conjure fire with her hands and is a fierce fighter. Emma was Abe’s sweetheart at the home before he left… read analysis of Emma Bloom/The Girl

Miss Alma Peregrine

Miss Peregrine is the caretaker of the home on Cairnholm. She is an ymbryne, meaning that she can manipulate time and transform into a bird. Miss Peregrine is fiercely protective of the children, but… read analysis of Miss Alma Peregrine

Jacob’s Dad

Jacob’s dad is an amateur ornithologist and a nature writer. Jacob has a difficult relationship with his dad, particularly because he feels that his dad doesn’t love Abe in the way Jacob does. Jacob’s… read analysis of Jacob’s Dad

Dr. Golan/The Birder

Dr. Golan is Jacob’s psychiatrist, who convinces him that his nightmares and anxiety are simply responses to the trauma of seeing his grandfather die after a violent attack. However, it’s later revealed that Dr… read analysis of Dr. Golan/The Birder

Jacob’s Mom

Jacob’s mom comes from a wealthy family that owns a chain of drug stores, and this creates problems between her, Jacob, and his dad. Jacob is sometimes frustrated with the way his mom… read analysis of Jacob’s Mom

Millard Nullings

Millard is a peculiar who lives at Miss Peregrine’s home. Millard’s peculiar ability is that he is invisible (though any clothes he puts on are not). This allows Millard to overhear conversations and… read analysis of Millard Nullings

Bronwyn

Bronwyn is a peculiar who lives at Miss Peregrine’s. She and her brother Victor both have incredible strength, though Victor died when he tried to leave the island and a hollowgast killed him. While… read analysis of Bronwyn

Enoch

Enoch is a peculiar who lives at Miss Peregrine’s home. His ability is that he can take a preserved heart from one living being and use it to revive a dead being. Enoch… read analysis of Enoch

Victor

Victor is a peculiar who lives in Miss Peregrine’s home and is Bronwyn’s brother. Like Bronwyn, he possesses incredible strength. Jacob discovers Victor’s dead body in a bedroom in the house; the children… read analysis of Victor

Miss Avocet

Miss Avocet is an ymbryne who taught Miss Peregrine. Late in the book, Miss Avocet arrives on Cairnholm explaining that wights have kidnapped her peculiar children, along with her fellow ymbryne Miss Bunting. She… read analysis of Miss Avocet

Ricky

Ricky is Jacob’s closest—and only—friend in Florida. Jacob helps Ricky with his homework, and in exchange Ricky protects Jacob from bullies at school. In reality, though, they don’t get along very well. Jacob often… read analysis of Ricky

Horace

Horace is a peculiar living at Miss Peregrine’s. His peculiar talent is that he has prophetic nightmares. When Miss Avocet arrives at Miss Peregrine’s, he has one of these nightmares, babbling about an apocalyptic… read analysis of Horace

Minor Characters

Malthus

Malthus is a hollowgast that kills Martin and that attempts to kill Jacob, Emma, and other peculiar children. Like all hollowgast, Malthus has rotting flesh and tentacles spouting from his mouth. Jacob is able to kill Malthus using a pair of large sheep shears.

Dylan

Dylan is a boy who lives on Cairnholm in the present day. He and his friend Worm prank Jacob when Jacob asks them to lead him to the home, bringing him to a shack full of sheep excrement before abandoning him.

Martin Pagett

Martin is a museum curator on Cairnholm island. Towards the end of the book, he is found dead in the ocean with severe wounds. When Enoch revives Martin, the children discover that he was killed by a hollowgast.

Worm

Worm is a boy who lives on Cairnholm in the present day. He and Dylan form a rap duo, and together they prank Jacob when Jacob asks them to lead him to the children’s home.

Olive

Olive is a peculiar who lives in Miss Peregrine’s. Her talent is that she can levitate, and often the other children have to tie her down to furniture or keep her on a rope outside so that she doesn’t float away.

Fiona

Fiona is a peculiar living at Miss Peregrine’s. She has the ability to grow and animate plant life—making different topiaries come to life or causing flowers to grow out of planters in a matter of seconds.

Hugh

Hugh is a peculiar who lives at Miss Peregrine’s. His peculiarity is that he has bees living inside him, which swarm outside of him as well.

Aunt Susie

Aunt Susie is Jacob’s aunt, Abe’s daughter, and Jacob’s dad’s older sister.

Kev

A bartender at the Priest Hole.